Buckle



(No Model.)

W. B. SMITH.

BUGKLE. v Patented Sept. 9, 1884.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM E. SMITH, OF ANSONIA, CONNECTICUT.

BUCKLE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 304,870, dated September 9, 1884.

Application filed July 5, 1884. (No model.)

To all whom, it may concern:

Be it known that 1, WILLIAM E. SMITH, of Ansonia, in the county of New Haven and State of Connecticut, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Buckles, which improvement is fully set forth in the following specification and accompanying drawings.

My invention relates to that class of buckles commonly used on suspenders, and to that particular kind which are called or known as lever-buckles. It has been usual heretofore to construct such buckles from two pieces of fiat metal, one piece forming the plate or body and the other the leverbar, the fulcrum of said lever-bar being formed by trunnions projecting from same into holes or rests punched in the turned-down ears of the plate or body. These trunnions project through the ears outwardly, and are exposed so as to come in contact with such parts of the clothing as may be contiguous to the buckle, and the bearings made by said holes are not substantial; and it is to overcome these objections that I have devised thepresent construction, which is formed of four pieces of suitable metal arranged as hereinafter described.

In the drawings, Figure l'represents the four pieces in detached form. E is the lever-bar or clamping device. C is the body or plate, and D D are the two caps which confine the lever E to the body C. The lever bar E has its holding-teeth e and its trunnions e e. The body 0 is formed of a plate, of metal, whose ends are bent double, so as to go around the edges of the suspender-web; and these doubled ends are provided with depressions c c, which constitute the bearings for the trunnions ee. The caps D D are pro vided with ears (I d, which are inserted into the holes or openings 0 c of the plate 0. The lever-bar E is placed in position with its trunnions resting in the bearings c 0. Then caps D D are placed over the trunnions, when the ears (1 d are bent up under the openings 0 0. Thus the lever-bar and plate or body are firmly held together, and the top surface above the trunnions is flush and smooth, as shown in Fig. 2, where the parts are assembled as a whole. The strap or suspender to be held and adjusted is passed between the plate 0 and the lever-bar E,being held in position by the teeth 0. The strap is freed so as to be adjusted by the lifting up of thelever, as in ordinary buckles of this class.

Fig. 3 shows a sectional view of the device cut down through the doubled end of the plate C transversely.

By my construction the objections heretofore existing in suspender-buckles 'are overcome. The outer edges of the metal pieces are not exposed, and the lever-trunnions are well housed in reliable bearings.

It is obvious that many of the details of my device as here described may be changed without departing from the spirit of the invention as, for instance, the depressions c 0 may be one-half the necessary depth to hold thetrunnions, and the loss made up by slightly depressing the caps D D; or the entire depressions may be had in the caps.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Let ters Patent, is-

1. A buckle composed of a body or plate, and a clamping-lever hinged thereto by means of trunnions working in suitable bearings in said body or plate, the said trunnions being secured to their bearings by caps or separate pieces, substantially as and for the purpose described.

2. A buckle composed of a body or plate, 0, whose ends are bent double and contain depressions cc, capped with pieces D D, for the reception and retention of the ends or trunnions of a clamping-lever, and the clamping-lever E, substantially as and for the pur pose described.

XVILLIAM E. SMITH.

IVitnesses:

JNo. C. HOTOHKISS, J onn D. BALLOU. 

